A People's Daily lead article on December 27, referring to the Central Rural Work Conference held in Beijing
from December 25 to 26, asserted that the issue of agriculture and rural farmers is a fundamental issue related
to the national economy and the people's livelihood. Prior to the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping
presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee to study the work of "agriculture, rural areas,
and farmers" and delivered an important speech. Xi Jinping pointed out that in response to various risks and
challenges, "we must focus on the national strategic needs, stabilize the basic agricultural market, and do a
good job in the "three rural" work. The measures must be hard and the execution must be strong to ensure
stable production and supply, and ensure the stable development of agriculture and rural areas". Xi Jinping
emphasized that ensuring the supply of primary products is a major strategic issue and observed that “The
Chinese people’s rice bowl must be firmly in their hands at all times. The rice bowl mainly contains Chinese
grain.” The article emphasised that ensuring food security is everyone's responsibility. He called on the Party
and people to do a good job in grain production and the supply of important agricultural products, implement
the responsibility of the party and government for food security, carry out the assessment of the food security
responsibility system, vigorously expand the production of soybeans and oilseeds, and ensure that the grain
output in 2022 stabilizes at more than 1.3 trillion catties, and strengthen the "vegetable basket." The mayor
is responsible for the system to ensure that the supply and prices of meat, eggs, vegetables, and other daily
necessities are basically stable. Xi Jinping also said it is necessary to implement the responsibilities of the
party and government for arable land protection, strictly observe the red line of 1.8 billion acres of arable
land, strengthen the control of arable land use, and build 100 million acres in 2022. Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang also spoke at the conference and gave important instructions on implementation of the policies. The
state-run CCTV (December 26) reported that Xiao Jie, State Councillor and Secretary-General of the State
Council, presided over the first plenary meeting. Members of the Central Rural Work Leading Group,
responsible comrades of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central
Government, cities under separate state planning, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and
responsible comrades of relevant central and state agencies, relevant people’s organizations, relevant
financial institutions and enterprises, and relevant departments of the Central Military Commission attended
the meeting . The meeting was held in the form of a video and telephone conference, with branch venues in
all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
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